If laughter is the best medicine, seniors in Onslow County can receive endless doses of amusement through a health practice that has gained thousands of followers internationally.

Every Thursday morning, a group of fitness focused seniors participate in an hour long session of laughter yoga. A chorus of hearty chuckles can be heard echoing from the fitness room at Onslow County Seniors Services as Instructor Edie Yaney guides her students through exercises based on the philosophy of “acting happiness.”

Yaney uses a series of laughter exercises with deep diaphragmatic breathing that is safe and easy for any cognitive or physical limitation. According to the Laughter Yoga International website, extended hearty laughter is known to increase muscle movement, mobility and boost the immune system. It also increases disease fighting cells and proteins and triggers the release of endorphins, known as the body’s natural painkillers.

“Basically, the body cannot tell the difference between a real laugh and a fake laugh, so just a fake laugh will do the body good,” Yaney said. “It’s good for high blood pressure and you’re getting aerobics but not exactly like an aerobics class.”

Laughter yoga was invented by Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India. The first Laughter Club was launched at a park in 1995 with a handful of people and is now a global phenomenon with more than 6,000 social laughter clubs in about 60 countries. Yaney discovered the exercise and became a certified laughter yoga instructor last November. As a full-time instructor for Onslow County Senior Services, she immediately added the exercise to her weekly schedule of fitness classes.

“I’ve had seven or eight people come in, and it hasn’t become a big group yet but I have people asking about it,” she said. “For some people to fake laugh is not comfortable, but so far I have not had that problem. They have said it was something that was kind of hard to do, but once you get in room everyone will be doing same things as you.”

Anyone can laugh for no reason without using humor, jokes, or comedy. The laughter is used as an exercise in a group with eye contact and childlike playfulness, which soon turns into the real thing. The laughter naturally initiates yogic breathing, or pranayama.

Laughter yoga begins with students seated in chairs for a ground dance with Indian music playing in the background. The class pushes energy away from the body with their arms while releasing a chant of “Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha” combined with hand claps and a several shouts of “Yay.” Laughter exercises such as walking down an imaginary fashion runway or spreading “laughter cream” on their faces gets the participants engaged and causes infectious laughs. Yaney also asks her students to visualize scenarios that would typically incite frustration or anger and replace those emotions with intentional laughter.

Page 2 of 2 - “There’s one exercise that I call hot soup laughter, where you take a sip of your soup and when you realize it’s hot you start fanning with hands and laughing for about 5 to 10 minutes,” Yaney said. “There’s lots of different ones that you can do. You can take anything and turn into laughter.”

Although Jacksonville residents Cynthia Peck and Christina Batiste are considered naturally joyful and positive people, they recently joined laughter yoga to continue healthy habits. Peck said that her doctor also thought it was a great idea to participate in the class.

“I’m a diabetic, and when I sit at home the refrigerator calls me,” Peck said. “When I’m here and among other people, I’m not eating and it’s great exercise. I feel like I’m moving every part of my body.”

As for Batiste, she enjoys trying a new activity that keeps a smile on her face throughout the day.

“It seemed fun and it’s something different to do,” Batiste said. “It’s a little harder when someone tells you laugh, but the more you do it the easier it gets. It gets you going in the morning and your heart rate up and it gets your mind off of other things.”

Laughter yoga has been used in aged care facilities around the world to combat loneliness, depression and the cognitive effects of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other diseases. In addition to the senior population, laughter yoga has been used in groups for cancer patients, prisons inmates and people with physical and mental disabilities. Yaney said that laughter yoga has helped students with physical disabilities keep up with the crowd. She hopes that more seniors take advantage of the exercise and participate in a full hour of childlike fun.

“It’s good to see the ones who can’t attend my other classes because of health issues come back because they can choose to do something with minimal stress on the body,” Yaney said. “It’s kind of something that you have to attend, really see what’s going on and take a chance on it. It’s an interesting class and what starts out as a fake laugh turns into real laughter.”

Residents 55 and older with a doctor’s approval can participate in Laughter Yoga every Thursday from 9 to 10 a.m. at Onslow Senior Services in the Onslow County Multipurpose Complex, 4024 Richlands Highway. Call 910-330-3011 for more information about the class or visit laughteryoga.org to learn more about the exercise.